Anton Reicha
Anton (Antonín, Antoine) Joseph Reicha (Rejcha) (26 February 1770 – 28 May 1836) was a Czech-born, Bavarian-educated, later naturalized French composer and music theorist.[1] A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, he is now best remembered for his substantial early contributions to the wind quintet literature and his role as teacher of pupils including Franz Liszt, Hector Berlioz and César Franck. He was also an accomplished theorist, and wrote several treatises on various aspects of composition. Some of his theoretical work dealt with experimental methods of composition, which he applied in a variety of works such as fugues and études for piano and string quartet.
None of the advanced ideas he advocated in the most radical of his music and writings, such as
Life
1770–1805: early years, first visit to Paris and the Viennese period
Reicha was born in Prague. His father Šimon, the town piper of the city, died when Anton was just 10 months old.[2] Apparently Reicha's mother was not interested in her son's education, and so in 1780 he ran away from home following a sudden impulse – as he recounted in his memoirs, he jumped onto a passing carriage.[3] He first visited his paternal grandfather in Klatovy, and then his paternal uncle Josef Reicha, a virtuoso cellist, conductor and composer living in Wallerstein, Bavaria, who adopted him.[2] Josef and his wife, being childless, could give young Anton their full attention: Josef taught him violin and piano, his wife insisted on him being taught French and German, and he was also taught the flute.[4]
In 1785 the family moved to
From about 1785 Reicha studied composition secretly, against his uncle's wishes, composing and conducting his first symphony in 1787 and entering the University of Bonn in 1789, where he studied and performed until 1794, when Bonn was attacked and captured by the French. He managed to escape to Hamburg,[2] vowed never to perform in public again and began to earn a living teaching harmony, composition and piano. He continued composing and studied mathematics, philosophy and, significantly, methods of teaching composition. In 1799 he moved to Paris, hoping to achieve success as an opera composer. These hopes were dashed, however: he could neither get his old librettos accepted nor find suitable new ones despite support from friends and influential members of the aristocracy, and moved on to Vienna in 1801.
Once there, like Beethoven and the young
1806–1836: departure from Vienna and life in Paris
Reicha's life and career in Vienna were interrupted by
This second Paris period produced several important theoretical writings. Cours de composition musicale, published by 1818, became the standard text on composition at the Conservatoire; the Traité de mélodie of 1814, a treatise on
Reicha stayed in Paris for the rest of his life. He became a
Works
It is difficult to present a coherent
Musically, the wind quintets represent a more conservative trend in Reicha's oeuvre when compared to his earlier work, namely the compositions of the Viennese period. In the quintets, as he describes in his preface, Reicha wanted to expand the technical limits of the five still evolving wind instruments (hand horn, 'un-rationalised' flute and clarinet, double reeds with fewer keys), and thereby also the ambitions of amateur wind players, by establishing a nucleus for a corpus of substantial work like that available to string players (and consciously more serious than the Harmoniemusik of the last century). His writing combines virtuoso display (often still very challenging today, yet idiomatic for each instrument), popular elements (from the comic opera his soloists played, from his Bohemian folk heritage, from the military background to his life – many marches, 'walking' themes and fanfares), and his lifelong more academic interests in variation form and counterpoint. Four of the quintets have trios in passacaglia form, the repeating theme however being on different instruments in each case so not necessarily in the bass. The earlier Beethoven connection, now severed,[5] is revisited in the scherzo of the quintet in E-flat Op. 100 no. 3, which contains clear musical quotations (most obvious in the horn part) from both the scherzo of his Eroica (also in E-flat major) and the first movement of his 5th symphonies. Berlioz[11] says the quintets "enjoyed a certain vogue in Paris for a number of years. They are interesting pieces but a little cold", while Louis Spohr, who was visiting Paris in 1820–21 and reserved judgment until he had heard several performed, assessed them in a letter home (which he included in his autobiography) as having too many ideas linked carelessly or not at all ("were he less rich, he would be richer"), "yet the minuets and scherzi, as short pieces, are less open to this objection, and some of them are real masterpieces in form and contents".[16] Spohr was generally impressed by the virtuosity of the wind soloists and was very pleased with their performance of his own piano and wind quintet. Berlioz[11] also comments on two of the players (in other works): "Joseph Guillou , the first flute...has to dominate...so he transposes the flute line up an octave, thus destroying the composer's intention" (p. 56); of Gustave Vogt's cor anglais playing he says (p. 23): "However remarkable the singer...I find it hard to believe she can ever have made it sound as natural and touching as it did on Vogt's instrument". Reicha was particularly close personally to the horn player L-F Dauprat, who was nominated by the family's lawyer as a surrogate guardian to Reicha's two daughters at his death.[17]
Technical wizardry also prevails in compositions that illustrate Reicha's theoretical treatise Practische Beispiele (Practical Examples) of 1803, where techniques such as
The
Many of Reicha's
Much of Reicha's music remained unpublished and/or unperformed during his life, and virtually all of it fell into obscurity after his death. This is partly explained by Reicha's own decisions he reflected on in his autobiography: "Many of my works have never been heard because of my aversion to seeking performances [...] I counted the time spent in such efforts as lost, and preferred to remain at my desk."[6] He also frequently advocated ideas, such as the use of quarter tones, that were too far ahead of his time to be understood by his contemporaries.[23]
Writings
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Reicha's major theoretical and pedagogical works include the following:
- Practische Beispiele: ein Beitrag zur Geistescultur des Tonsetzers ... begleitet mit philosophisch-practischen Anmerkungen (1803), a didactic work that includes 25 sight-reading exercises of extreme difficulty, some of which were later published separately or in collections such as the 36 fugues. The exercises are divided into three groups: one for polyrhythm, one for polytonality and one that included exercises written on four staves and so required knowledge of the alto and tenor clefs.
- Traité de mélodie (Paris, 1814), on melody, translated into German by Czerny
- Cours de composition musicale, ou Traité complet et raisonné d'harmonie pratique (1818), on composition, translated into German by Czerny (From Chapter 9 of Czerny's Letters to a Young Lady: "My view was only to give you a general idea of Harmony or Thorough Bass; and when you begin the study of it in a regular manner – and I hear with pleasure that you are shortly about to do so, and that your worthy teacher has selected for the purpose the excellent Treatise on Harmony by Reicha...")
- Traité de haute composition musicale (2 vols. 1824–1826), translated into German by Czerny around 1835. In this late treatise Reicha expressed some of his most daring ideas, such as the use of quarter tones and folk music (which was almost completely neglected at the time).[24] An article in this treatise deals with the problem of irregular resolution of dissonant chords, formulating a simple law for its successful employment; this article was so innovative and celebrated, that it was published even by itself in the past and in the present, the latest English translation being the one by Lorenzo M. A. Giorgi (A new theory for the resolution of discords, according to the Modern Musical System, 2017).[25]
- L'art du compositeur dramatique (4 vols., 1833), on the writing of opera. Provides an exhaustive account of contemporary performance techniques and is supplemented with examples from Reicha's own operas.
In addition to these, a number of smaller texts by him exist. These include an outline of Reicha's system for writing fugues, Über das neue Fugensystem (published as a foreword to the 1805 edition of 36 fugues), Sur la musique comme art purement sentimental (before 1814, literally "On music as a purely emotional art"), Petit traité d'harmonie pratique à 2 parties (c. 1814, a short "practical treatise" on harmony), a number of articles and the poem An Joseph Haydn, published in the preface to 36 fugues (which were dedicated to Haydn).
Notable recordings
- Horn Trios (1980). Zdeněk Tylšar, Bedřich Tylšar, Emanuel Hrdina. Supraphon, VT 2976-2[26]
- Complete Wind Quintets (1990). The Albert Schweitzer Quintet. 10 CDs, CPO, 9992502[27]
- 36 Fugues Op. 36 (1991–1992). Tiny Wirtz (piano). 2 CDs, CPO 999 065-2[28]
- Complete Wind Quintets (2005–2012). The Westwood Wind Quintet. 12 CDs, Crystal Records, CD260[29]
- 36 Fugues (2006). Jaroslav Tůma (fortepiano Anton Walter, 1790). 2 CDs, ARTA F101462[30]
- Complete Symphonies (2011). Ondřej Kukal conducting Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. 2 CDs, Radioservis, CR0572-2[31]
- Musique de Chambre (2017). Solistes de la Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth. 3 CDs, ALPHA369[32]
- Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 1 (2017). Ivan Ilić (piano). 1 CD, CHAN 10950[33]
- Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 2, Études dans le genre Fugué, Op.97 Nos 1–13 (2018). Ivan Ilić (piano). 1 CD, CHAN 20033[34]
- Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 3, L'Art de varier ou 57 variations pour le piano, Op. 57 (2021). Ivan Ilić (piano). 1 CD, CHAN 20194[35]
Notes
- ^ The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music. p. 735.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Černušák, Gracián; Štědroň, Bohumír; Nováček, Zdenko, eds. (1963). Československý hudební slovník II. M–Ž (in Czech). Prague: Státní hudební vydavatelství. p. 415.
- JSTOR 898945.
- ^ Demuth 1948, p. 166.
- ^ a b c Rice, John A. "Beethoven, Reicha, and the Eroica". Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- ^ a b Reicha's autobiography, Notes sur Antoine Reicha, quoted in Ron Drummond, "Program Notes for a Performance of Antonín Rejcha's C Minor String Quartet".
- ^ Stove 2012, p. 21.
- ISBN 0-8357-1111-0.
- ^ Demuth 1948, p. 167.
- ISBN 1-55861-074-X.
- ^ ISBN 0-375-41391-Xpp. 20–21
- ^ Stove 2012, pp. 22–23.
- ^ a b "John Humphries' liner note for CD 8.550432 by Michael Thompson Wind Quintet". Naxos.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ Reicha's autobiography, Notes sur Antoine Reicha, quoted in Bill McGlaughlin's "A World of Winds: Making Your Own Quintet – The Father of the Wind Quintet", see [1]
- ^ Ron Drummond, "Anton Reicha: A Biographical Sketch"
- ISBN 978-1-84955-111-3.
- ^ Bernard de Raymond 2013, p. 22.
- ^ Demuth 1948, p. 171.
- ISBN 0-8014-9421-4.
- ^ Václav Jan Sýkora. Preface to an edition of 36 Fugues for Piano, Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1973, Nos. 19117–19119.
- ^ Jan Racek. Foreword to the critical edition of "L'art de varier", Praha: Státní hudební vydavatelství, 1961
- ^ Ron Drummond: "The String Quartets of Anton Reicha – Introduction"
- ^ Demuth 1948, pp. 169–170.
- ^ Demuth 1948, p. 172.
- ISBN 978-1546308607.
- ^ "Rejcha: Tria pro lesní rohy – Zdeněk Tylšar, Bedřich Tylšar, Emanuel Hrdina". Supraphon (in Czech). Retrieved 26 April 2023.
- ^ "Reicha's Wind Quintets". Presto Classical. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Reicha: 36 Fugues, Op. 36". ArkivMusic. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Complete Recordings of Reicha's Wind Quintets by Westwood Wind Quintet". Crystal Records. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Reicha: 36 Fugues for Piano". Amazon. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Reicha: Four Symphonies". Amazon. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
- ^ "Reicha: Musique de Chambre". Presto Music. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
- ^ "Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 1". ArkivMusic. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
- ^ "Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 2". Chandos. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- ^ "Reicha Rediscovered, Volume 3". Chandos. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
Sources
- Bernard de Raymond, Louise (2013). Schneider, Herbert; Bartoli, Jean-Pierre (eds.). Antoine Reicha, compositeur et théoricien (Actes du Colloque international tenu à Paris du 18 au 20 avril 2013). Olms Verlag. ISBN 978-3-4871-5096-3.
- JSTOR 730884.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8207-2.
Further reading
- Olga Šotolová, Antonín Rejcha: A Biography and Thematic Catalogue. Deryck Viney, translator. Supraphon, Prague, 1990. ISBN 80-7058-169-7. (The standard monograph on Reicha. Contains numerous errors, but is richly informative on many aspects of Reicha's life; see Hoyt 1993above.)
- Stone, Peter Eliot (2001). "Antoine Reicha". In ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.
External links
General reference
- "Anton Reicha". Classical.net. Archived from the original on 14 December 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
- Essay on Anton Reicha by Charles-David Lehrer for the International Double Reed Society
- Bill McGlaughlin's article on Reicha for Saint Paul Sunday
- Beethoven's Contemporaries: Anton Reicha
- Letters Archived 11 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine written by or concerning Reicha and portraits Archived 11 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine of him in the Digital archives of the Beethoven-Haus, Bonn.
- Dr David Whitwell's essay on Reicha's pioneering composition for wind band, including extensive quotation from Berlioz' tribute to Reicha in his column for the Journal des débats, 1836
- "John Humphries' liner note for CD 8.550432 by Michael Thompson Wind Quintet". Naxos.com. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- Klassiekemuziek: Anton Reicha (in Dutch)
Scores
- Free scores by Anton Reicha at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- "Anton Reicha Wind Quintets: free scores". The Royal Library, Copenhagen. Retrieved 29 October 2008.